If you live in London, you need to a make $15.53 an hour or $30,284 a year to meet your basic needs, according to a “living wage” report released Friday by a coalition of businesses and private agencies.

About half of Londoners aren’t even there, according to figures from the 2011 census.

The median individual income in the London area in 2011 was $29,478, about $15.11 an hour, Statistics Canada says.

Even accounting for wage inflation since 2011, it means many Londoners aren’t earning enough to get by and that’s shocking, said Jeff Schlemmer, director of Neighbourhood Legal Services and a housing advocate.

The figures show how many people are struggling below the living wage benchmark, he said.

“I thought this (living wage) exercise was about pulling people out of poverty. But it also seems to be impacting the middle class.”

The average income for all London-area wage earners in 2011 was considerably higher — $39,229.

But the average wage is skewed higher by a small number of very wealthy people, Schlemmer said. The median income, the halfway point for all wage earners, is a more fair representation of how most Londoners live, he said.

The living wage figure was released Friday by a coalition of businesses and social agencies led by the Middlesex-London Health Unit.

The wage of $15.53 an hour was based on expenses for a typical family with two working parents and two children.

Dr. Chris Mackie, medical officer of health for London and Middlesex, helped to spearhead the production of the report. Income levels are a factor in overall health, he said.

“A living wage is one of the major contributions that the business community can have in addressing poverty. A living wage really can lift people out of poverty.”

The calculation of the living wage was done by the London Poverty Research Centre at King’s University College based on a formula used by at least a dozen other Ontario municipalities.

The $15.53 living wage is well above Ontario’s current minimum wage of $11.25 an hour.

Labour, poverty activists and the provincial NDP are calling on the province to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour immediately.

London-Fanshawe NDP MPP Teresa Armstrong said simply relying on businesses to do the right thing won’t help thousands of Londoners struggling to get by.

“You’re living on poverty when you’re working for minimum wage,” she said.

Patti Dalton, president of the London and District Labour Council, said she wasn’t surprised almost half of Londoners earn less than the living wage. A living wage is a good first step but only works if someone can secure full-time permanent work, she said. The loss of so many good union jobs has left many people scrambling with part-time and temporary jobs, Dalton said.

Mike Moffat, a professor at the Ivey School of Business, said the living wage can become a benchmark for local businesses that want to improve morale and productivity.

“Paying the lowest wage is not the best way to get the most out of your employees and in the long run can corrode the firm’s value.”

Many companies already pay a living wage, and immediately boosting the provincial minimum wage could cause hardship for some employers, he warned.

Moffatt noted many people making less than the living wage are part-time high school students who are not supporting a family.

Trudell Medical, Ellipsis Digital, Western Fair District, Downtown London and Goodwill Industries are some of the businesses and agencies the have committed to paying employees a living wage.

With 640 employees, Libro Credit Union was one of the big players to make the commitment. Libro chief executive Stephen Bolton said the company boosted the wages of some entry-level employees making less than the living wage.

“Growing regional prosperity goes further than financial transactions and balance sheets,” he said.

London Mayor Matt Brown said the living wage is an issue that city council should discuss but he did not commit to making the city a living wage employer.

“This is an important first step that will frame the conversation about what a living wage is here in London.”

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